First Tsurugi
by JemmaLEe
Summary: Sephiroth wished for a friend to accompany him and he got one.But he soon found out that his new 'friend' wasn't normal at all,no one knew her and she was appearing abruptly in places that she shouldn't and couldn't reach or be at all: Tsurugi wasn't human. TimeTravel fic
1. Chapter 1

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_

_**This is my first fanfiction – time traveling one at that – so please don't be too harsh. I've decided to write about Cloud's sword – First Tsurugi - because it doesn't get much screen time – poor thing – and also since I like this fic to be unique – since there's a lot of Cloud, Sephiroth, Genesis and Zack's time traveling experience. **_

_**This is my story so some things may be different, like the characters age for example and the history as well. But it won't change completely, just the timeline will be different. Some things may be confusing but it will clear up soon in later chapters.**_

_**Disclaimer : No, I don't own anything. All the characters or places in this story belongs to SquareEnix. Except those characters that you are not familiar with.**_

_**Full Summary/ Alternate Summary: Sephiroth wished for a friend to accompany him and he got one – even though it was a girl, she'll do. But he soon found out that his new 'friend' wasn't normal at all, no one knew her and she was appearing abruptly in places that she shouldn't and couldn't reach or be at all : Tsurugi wasn't human and there are doubts that she will even be one. But she'll accompany the poor lonely boy till her master was born and had grown up enough to wield her.**_

_**Word Count: 4,539**_

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Chapter 1,

It was a pretty normal day for young Sephiroth who was just going to return to his sterile room – more like a cell though in various people's opinion – to rest. It was a daily routine – wake up, breakfast then to the scientists he go, to be tested on and prodded by. Today was different. Professor Hojo had been summoned to Midgar by the President of Shin-ra, quite a number of the Turks have been summoned as well. Professor Gast was the only one left to take care of him but he had urgent matters so he had left Enna, his niece to Sephiroth.

_-With Professor Gast-_

It was about a forty-minute walk, but Enna didn't complain once. She trotted along beside the older man who was her uncle, Professor Gast. She kept talking about Sephiroth – or in her case Sephy. Sephy. Sephy. Sephy. What was his favourite color? Did he have any friends – especially girls to play with? What did he usually do in his free time? Is he strong? Did he have dreams about ghosts? What did he usually eat for breakfast? What kind of books does he like to read? What did he do in his pass time? Is he friendly?

Enna had so many questions for Sephiroth, Gast almost felt sorry for Sephiroth. Almost. That boy was too quiet, too anti-social. Someone to talk too might help that boy – even though said person was really annoying. Gast bit back the urge to sigh as Enna continued to talk to no one in particular – he himself wasn't listening even though he tried to be polite. Now he knew why his sister need a break from her own daughter – even if it was just a single day. Enna had the ability to drive others nuts!

_-with Sephiroth-_

Sephiroth wanted nothing more to bolt from the annoying brat beside him even though he had promised the Professor to take care of the girl. He had tuned her out the first few seconds she started talking non-stop – seriously, how can one talk for so long?

"Hey, this three headed dog is so cute~!" Seeing that the girl – he didn't bother learning her name at all when Gast has introduced them – was distracted, Sephiroth turned down the hall way and walked off quietly in a brisk pace.

"Escaped, huh?" Said a voice in front of him. Sephiroth's slitted bright green cat-like eyes flew open. A girl he had never seen before in the lab was standing in front of him.

She appeared to be nine or ten years old but small for her age. Her hair was long – it reached her thigh – and it was the darkest color he had ever seen – ebony, her eyes were a blank – with no irises – brown red color – like when the sun was setting, and her skin was the lightest color he had ever seen, ivory kind of white. Too pale for a child even if she was holed up in one place for too long – like him and his skin color was so unlike hers. And despite the chilly condition, she wore a faded blue sleeveless too-small-for-her-shirt – the straps on her right shoulder kept sliding off – and a short skirt with a sweatshirt tied on her waist and light blue sandals.

"What?" Finding his own voice again, Sephiroth uttered a syllable as he continued to stare at the girl – she seems familiar somehow but he was sure he had never seen her before today and now.

The other girl looked at Sephiroth slantwise, as if she were sizing him up. Would he be good to know? Was he nice? Was he bossy? What kind of person is he? Sephiroth found himself giving her the same look – analyzing and scrutinizing her. There was something about her he disliked on sight – a sharpness in her eyes that no child should have, the way she carries herself, a mean set to her mouth. She was the type who would lie and get you into trouble.

" 'What? What?' " the girl mimicked what he had said earlier but she didn't sound mean – like he had assumed her to – unusual, weird even. "Where's your mother?" she asked. Her voice was too high pitched to be easy on the ears – especially to those of Mako enhanced – like him for one.

"I don't have one." Sephiroth replied stiffly. To his surprise, the girl's features softened. Was she pitying him? Ridiculous, he didn't need that. He knew exactly the emotion of pity even though none of the people in the labs have given him that look except Professor Gast and some of the newest lab assistants – they were the type to get fired quickly.

"So you blew off the annoying brat huh? Are you planning on getting out of this place?" She had changed the subject as if she had felt Sephiroth's discomfort. She came closer to Sephiroth when he didn't say anything, "Don't you talk?"

Sephiroth couldn't believe he was having this – or any kind of – conversation with a total stranger. Clearly, the girl was nuts – what she wore in this kind of place already said volumes. But something – curiosity, perhaps – kept Sephiroth from walking away. "I do, I just did. And I am not running from her, I just walked past her." Sephiroth told her after a moment's silence. "And besides, we can't leave. We'll be in trouble, we're heavily guarded."

The girl smiled, and once again Sephiroth was struck by the feeling he knew her. "Don't worry about it. I never get in trouble, you won't too if you follow me." The girl said. Without waiting for Sephiroth, she turned and started for the door at the end of the hallway.

Sephiroth stood at his spot, unmoving. He pondered on following the girl or not. As he did so, his enhanced hearing caught the sounds of wailing and murmurs coming his way. the professor's niece and the other scientists. _ Damn, _he thought. He bolted after the door where the mysterious girl had disappeared to. The girl may be crazy but the scientists are even worse and besides his curiosity urged him to go find out more of the girl. He hated unsolved puzzles and mysteries. He wanted to be perfect.

After exiting the basement, he spotted the girl he just met easily in the dark for he had Mako flowing in his veins and it strengthen his senses. The girl was easy to spot, her ivory skin seemed to glow in the dark – but it could also just be his imagination.

"Wait, what's your name?" Sephiroth asked, walking in elegant brisk paces to catch up to her – she was standing by the door, seemingly waiting for something.

The girl gave him a strange look – that he could see perfectly well in the dark, "Tsurugi," she said, as if it was very obvious – and silly of him to not know it, and pushed open the giant door – it was a mansion's entrance.

" Tsurugi. . ." The girl's unique unusual name rolled off Sephiroth's tongue nicely and that name sounds strangely familiar. Suddenly, he staggered. There was a chemical smell in the air, his vision started to tunnel and was soon blinded by a vision of a blond spiky haired man wielding a buster blade – what an unelegant weapon, he for one would go for a slender long weapon like a katana for example - a long one too so that he could reach farther with it. Not to mention, the blade was too big for the lithe blond man – and stabbing the other man with it. The man was an older version of Sephiroth or maybe he was someone else altogether. Young Sephiroth shook his head as he wiped the sheen of sweat appearing on his forehead. He hurried after the girl that had left, leaving the door wide open for him to go out. The doors seemed to be welcoming him, like a mother opening her arms to her child for a comforting embrace. He felt it too, in another sense – freedom.

The minute he stepped outside, Sephiroth felt better. The fresh – but extremely cold air from the snow in the area washed away the last of his queasiness, the harsh cold icy wind blew away the clamminess on his skin, but it also slapped him in the face, hard.

"So where are we going?" Sephiroth asked quietly when they were far enough from the mansion to see a town.  
"Wherever we want." Tsurugi replied as she trotted down the snow covered path. It was deep, it reached Tsurugi's waist but it didn't bother Sephiroth since it reached only to his knees. But the thing that disturbed his mind is that the icy snow didn't seem to bother Tsurugi at all, neither did it hinder her. Was she Mako enhanced as well? Sephiroth knew a few things Mako-enhanced people can do. For example, walking in the snow without being bothered – like him and her.

They reached the town and the two continued down the street. At first, Sephiroth was too nervous to enjoy himself. He was slightly afraid that he would run into someone he knew, one of the lab assistants maybe, who would ask him questions then haul him back to the underground lab – he just found out that he was raised in an underground lab. He tried to reassure himself that the people they passed would hurry by them without giving them a second glance and gradually he relaxed – he had never before in his life sneaked out or successfully got out of the lab. The feeling of freedom was new and thrilling. But he was wrong, oh so very wrong. The town was covered in snow and was very small, it seems like the people there knew everyone in town. So when two odd kids appeared, their attention turned instantly to the two – but to be more specific, Sephiroth alone. Sephiroth tensed under their gaze but didn't fidget or look away – he can't anyway, townsfolk were on his left and right and front and back – neither did he looked down – he will never give the satisfication to the people if they're trying to intimidate him or make him feel small, he walked as if he wasn't affected for wearing only a pair of pants and a thin material covering his torso. Sephiroth was only mildly surprised to see Tsurugi had already put on her sweatshirt and had the hood covered most of her face – her hair hid her upper half of her face. She could have felt cold in this kind of weather – what unenhanced human don't? – for she is just a normal human girl, or maybe she was intimidated by the villagers so she hid her face – is she an outcast to the village? _So many unanswered questions. _Sephiroth thought as he bit back the urge to sigh, the girl – Tsurugi was still a mystery to him, she didn't reveal much in their talk on their way to the village – Nilbehiem something, was it? He didn't know, no one really told him and the sign on the board that was in their path earlier was wrecked, courtesy of the blizzard storm.

Sephiroth was so submerged in his thinking that he almost walked right past Tsurugi who was glaring – he assumed, her long bangs and fringe made it hard to look at her eyes, him standing behind her didn't help his vision either, he could see miles away but he couldn't see though something that was opaque – at a couple. The couple were of a man with dark hair and burgundy eyes, beside him was a woman with a lighter shade of hair and wine- reddish eyes, her stomach has a small bump on it and holding one of her hand was a boy that seems to be the same age as him – ten years old. With his enhanced hearing, he heard townsfolk greet and congratulate the couple for they are going to have a new kid. Sephiroth stared at them strangely, is having a new family member something to be happy about? He didn't know the answer to that.

He stole a glance at Tsurugi when he was standing beside her, her eyes were now dilated. He frowned the same time she scowled. She was acting strange – not that he knew much about the human behavior since he didn't have much human contact in the labs nor did he knew her long enough to determine what sort of person she is – so he decided to tread on careful grounds first – he didn't know what kind of thing she would do when she got mad. He had heard that females are sometimes too sensitive. He didn't forget the one time where a female scientist – a rare case, for their job was boring in the labs. . . in Sephiroth's point of view anyways – was enraged, mistaking a compliment for an insult. Hypersensitive. Troublesome as well so he had to be careful.

"Is . . . something wrong?"

Tsurugi's eyes slowly returned to their normal size as she cocked her head to the side when she looked at him, " Not really. Let's go get something to eat." And she stalked off to the nearest cafe.

"I can't," Sephiroth said. "I don't have any gil." Tsurugi smiled – more like a smirk though – her mysterious smile.

"Don't worry about the gil. I've got us covered."

Sephiroth opened his mouth to object, then changed his mind. He didn't think he will win an argument with Tsurugi. _Or a fight either_, a small part of his mind whisper. Sephiroth stopped in his tracks, why had he think that? Why would he fight Tsurugi? _She's a girl, I can beat her easily. _Even so, as he continued walking behind Tsurugi, he had the feeling that he really may not be able to defeat her. _The puppet is no exception either. _Sephiroth ruthlessly throttle the inner part of his mind and quickly caught up with Tsurugi who had stopped in front of a diner to wait for him. Sephiroth felt warm in his heart, someone cared enough to wait for him. Back at the labs, even Professor Gast who had treated him the best compare to the other people in the lab had not did that for he was too busy with his reports and his job as a scientist.

The odd couple of kids went through the door when they were side by side. A waitress walking past with a pot of coffee glanced at them – Sephiroth had the strange feeling that she seemed to be looking at him only, not Tsurugi as well – and pursed her lips. She pointed at a table near the window.

"Perfect," Tsurugi said as she started towards the seat closest to the window. Sephiroth, with his longer legs and brisk strides walked right past her and plopped down on the seat nearest to the window first. He smirked at Tsurugi's expression, he was – and is – a competitive person after all, he wouldn't lose to Tsurugi in a fight even one as trivial as this.

Tsurugi pouted but she sat down beside him anyways. After a moment, the waitress came over and dropped – no, slammed – a single menu on their table. She had on thick blue eye shadow and her curly hair was pile like a haystack on her head. "Something to drink?" she asked them tiredly.

Tsurugi happily asked him to order coffee, and after a moment's hesitation Sephiroth did too. He had never drank coffee because the scientists are always concern for his health so that his condition doesn't hinder their progress on him, but it sounded sophisticated. Not to mention warm. He was already starting to feel slightly cold.

The waitress sloshed coffee into two cups that were already on the table, sending him a weird look as she did so. Sephiroth was skeptical about it, his constantly clean cell was always clean, the plates and silverware that he used when he ate were sparkly clean as well. They were all most likely sterile, unlike these. Sephiroth eyed the cups of coffee with disdain but didn't complain or whine. The scientists had made sure he had no such horrible attitude and he really can't choose what he wanted. Tsurugi had Sephiroth order a turkey sandwich for them to share – he was skeptical about it too, Hojo had said that sharing food or any other personal belongings will spread germs and he should not do it, but once again, he didn't want to offend his new. . . . friend – female one at that – so he kept his mouth shut and didn't complain. Sephiroth watched the waitress wrote their order down on a little pad, stuck her pen behind her ear and shuffled of to the kitchen to fulfill their orders and others in the place as well.

"Nice servive," Tsurugi said with a snort. It was obvious that she was being sarcastic. Sephiroth didn't say anything. He'd just taken a sip of the hot, bitter coffee while watching as Tsurugi made faces at the waitress – who was oblivious to the little girl's action or maybe she had just simply chosen to ignore her – and had scalded his tongue. He had too much dignity to stuck his tongue out and fan it so he endured the pain – he can train his endurance this way. He pushed the cup of coffee away from him though, deciding to wait for it to cool down first.

Tsurugi leaned back into her seat, kicking her sandal covered feet up on the seat opposite to them. "Isn't this great? Way better than eating in that lame cafeteria back in the labs or at your plain room."

"How did you know how the cafeteria or my room looks like?" Sephiroth asked as he glanced around the room. There were a few people in business suits sitting at the counter, staring into space as they chewed on their sandwiches. In the booth across from Sephiroth and Tsurugi, a lonely-looking old man was spooning cottage cheese into his mouth. And as he watched the old man opened his mouth, he grimaced, there were barely any teeth in his gums. With a wince of disgust, he averted his gaze to the scenery outside the window – which was full of snow covered landscapes and villagers in thick clothing on and about their daily routine, nothing seemed too out of place in his eyes. But seeing children holding and spending time with their parents or group of friends, Sephiroth was envy of them, he had nothing of those. His father was. . . Hojo, he was told and he didn't like it one bit. And his mother was Jenova, he was told that too but she sounded better – much, much more better – than the mad scientist even though he had never met her face to face.

Tsurugi waved a hand as if that was of no concern. "It's a lab , you don't expect any eye-catching decorations do you?"

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the waitress, who plunked their food down, slapped a check on the table, and headed off to wait on some other customers.

"I have to go back soon," Sephiroth said when the waitress was gone. "I have to babysit the brat and the Turks or the lab assistants will notice my absence soon."

Tsurugi was dumping packets of sugar into her coffee, but she glanced up sharply, "What? Why don't you just take this chance to escape from the life in that horrible hellhole?"

"I can't. . . ." Sephiroth said. "Why not?" Her answer was quick and sharp – and was that a hint of fear in her tone?

"I was tagged, I can't leave even if I wanted to. I'll just get tracked then hauled back to the labs and the treatments might be even worse." Sephiroth explained patiently.

"How nice of the professors." Tsurugi sneered sarcastically. She went back to sulking and plotting something while Sephiroth turned his attention to the foreign food in front of him. Sephiroth nibbled on his sandwich but he didn't feel hungry. He wasn't used to eating this kind of food and it wasn't exactly nice to eat either.

But once she was done eating, Tsurugi dawdled. She kept glancing over at the waitress – Sephiroth had a feeling that she was waiting for something to happen – while she absently rubbed her knuckles against her left collarbone. _That's a new one. _Sephiroth thought, he hadn't notice earlier but now he saw that Tsurugi's left collarbone had grown unevenly, one side stood up among the rest.

"What happen to your neck?" Curioisity got the better of him. Gast had once said that he was too curious for his own good. And he had retorted with a, "How am I suppose to learn without asking things that I don't understand?" Gast had no answer for that and Sephiroth had internally gloated over his victory over one of the smartest human on Gaia.

"I tripped and fell off a stairs once. And since then, it has grown unevenly back together."

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"If you press hard enough." Now Sephiroth was tempted to do just that but he refrain himself from doing so.

When the waitress disappeared into the kitchen, Tsurugi suddenly stood. "Let's go!" she hissed.

"You haven't paid the bill yet," Sephiroth pointed out as he finished the very last bit of his coffee while rolling his eyes – how can she forget something like that? Something as important as gil to use in daily life – though he didn't need it, he may need it when he had grown up though.  
"Haven't you heard off dine and dash?"

"But you said you were going to pay." Sephiroth couldn't believe what Tsurugi was trying to pull. He had never heard of it before but he understood what Tsurugi was saying – eat without paying.

"I said I had it taken care of," Tsurugi said. "I didn't say I would pay. I don't even have any gil on me. Now come on, we have to go – _now." _Without waiting for Sephiroth – once again – she dashed out the door leading to the exit – the same door they entered from.

Sephiroth jumped up from the table so quickly she made the coffee cups rattle. A couple in the next booth looked up from their food but he ignored them. Halfway to the door though, Sephiroth stopped, frozen with indecision. He remembered the good manners and etiquette Gast taught him. From his peripheral vision, he saw the kitchen door swing open and the waitress came out carrying a tray of food. He was tempted to go up to her and say something but he lost that chance when someone yanked him out of the diner. When he was pulled out, he felt a stab of fear thinking that the scientists or lab assistants have found him. But his fear subsided when he realized that it was a pair of pale small hands that had grabbed him. Tsurugi.

"Won't she come after us?" Sephiroth asked quietly as the two headed back to the mansion – on Sephiroth's insistence – a matter that Tsurugi disagreed but relented soon enough.

"No way! Did you see the hairdo? She would never ever risk getting her pile of haystack – which was her hair – wet!" Tsurugi laughed nastily, with a tinge of cruelty in it as well. "She was a horrible waitress anyway. Did you notice how she only bought us one menu when there was two of us? We really got her back."

Sephiroth didn't laugh along with her. All he could think was about how tired the waitress had looked – and probably felt as well. But he shoved that guilty thought back into the very back of his mind as they reached the front doors of the mansion.

As she was about to leave, Sephiroth stopped her. "Where do you live?"  
"There." Tsurugi pointed to the east of the village. Sephiroth squinted his eyes to get a better look of the horizon but he didn't see anything. No signs of life unless he counted the tress in the distance. Tsurugi can't possibly live there, could she?

"I didn't see anything."

"I walked a long way."

"How did you sneak into the labs?" That's something that had been nagging at Sephiroth's mind all the while he had been with her – an hour plus. "Are you related to one of the scientists?" Sephiroth wanted to suggest Hojo or Gast since they are the highest ranking in the labs but he didn't.

Tsurugi grinned cheekily, "That's for me to know – and you to find out." Then she left.

That's the last time he saw her in months. And he never thought that he would see her again. Until. . . .


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer : No, I don't own anything. All the charatcers or places in this story belongs to SquareEnix. Except those characters or places that you are not familiar with.**_

_**Full Summary/ Alternate Summary: Sephiroth wished for a friend to accompany him and he got one – even though it was a girl, she'll do. But he soon found out that his new 'friend' wasn't normal at all, no one knew her and she was appearing abruptly in places that she shouldn't and couldn't reach or be at all : Tsurugi wasn't human and there are doubts that she will even be one or was she even one before. But she'll accompany the poor lonely boy till her master was born and had grown up enough to wield her. To do the Planet's and Cetra's dirty job again: She really hated them. Sephiroth had done nothing wrong. She and her beloved master had killed an time, they'll protect him and change things for the better.**_

_**Word Count:**_

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Chapter 2

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He decided to sneak out. It was a dangerous plan. He would have never dared to do something like this in the past – before he met Tsurugi. But she made him brave.

He had never done this before since he had dreamed of life outside. He followed the path that Tsurugi had once used.

It was an easy plan. But making it work was a different matter altogether. Avoiding those that work there was a little harder, or so he thought. Those scientists and their assistants were practically swarming there.

In his mind, he imagined himself managing to avoid a few of them, then he could go to the empty hallways again where he first met Tsurugi. But in reality, it was hard. There were many of them, but he didn't give up. Besides, this will help his stealth skills.

But unfortunately, the Turks were very experienced. He got caught of course, and hauled back to his 'room'. This continued for a few days before Sephiroth started having a new plan. Taking another road but one that will lead him to his destination would work perfectly as well.

He put the plan in motion. The Turks were so used to him taking the same route that they might already be guarding that place. Hopefully, it'll divert their attention and give him some time.

It took some effort, but the Turks guarding the new route was much more inexperience than the ones that had caught him so he could avoid them easily. And he lied to some assistants as well. They were responsible for another project so they might not recognize him. If it was someone responsible for him, he would have memorize and remember their faces.

The mako in his body gave him stamina so he wasn't tired or winded at all when he reached his destination. He started climbing up the stairs. Having perfect memory was a good thing, he mused as he managed to easily retrace the steps to the entrance of the mansion.

The cold air of winter blasted him in the face. He shivered but endured it nonetheless. The mako in his body better be doing its job.

He looked towards the direction where Tsurugi had pointed the last time – where she lived. He narrowed his eyes. There it was again. A faint wisp of smoke. A chimney then. That must be where she is.

He trudged along the snow. As time passes, he was no longer bothered much by the snow. As the mako in his body was doing its job.

He came to a stop in front of a cottage. It was small but it seems comfortable enough – that is for a small family of course. He did the polite thing that Professor Gast had taught him. He knocked and waited patiently for an answer.

A woman answered the door. The woman has spiky blonde hair held in a bun, blue eyes and freckles across her nose. She looked extremely pale and strained and tired as well. A stab of guilt hit him as he remembered the woman that he – and Tsurugi – had ditched without paying.

"Who are you?" The woman asked warily. Sephiroth frowned. The woman looked nothing like Tsurugi. Did he get the wrong house? But there's no other houses here.

"Excuse me, but I'm looking for someone ..." He started. But a foreign sound interruoted him. It caught his interest.

In her arms –he noticed for the first time –was an infant. The infant looked like its mother. Spiky blonde hair, blue eyes – is that a tint of mako in them? – and the same shade of skin.

He blinked. "What's that?" He had meant to ask something smarter. After all, who doesn't know what an infant is?

The woman laughed. The corners of her eyes crinkling. "Oh, little boy–" He twitched at being called that – he wasn't little damn it! "–come on in. You must be freezing cold out there."

"And to answer your question, this is my newborn son – I've yet to name him." Sephiroth leaned forward, peering at the baby in question curiously. The baby met his gaze, mako-blue eyes intense – completely unfitting of a newborn.

The baby reached out and gave a sharp tug on his silver hair that has created a silver veil around them. He had unknowingly inched closer to the baby.

"Oww ..." He whined softly. The baby has a strong grip.

"Oops. Sorry about that." The woman – he still didn't know her name – pried her son's hands from his hair. She marveled at his smooth hair.

"You have a unique hair – not that it's a bad thing." The woman smiled kindly at him.

"What's it's – errm, his name?" Sephiroth amended quickly, knowing that it was rude to refer the baby as if it was an animal.

"I haven't decided on that yet. Oh, I haven't introduce myself yet, have I? I'm Rose Strife but feel free to call me Mrs. Strife."

Sephiroth nodded. He was tempted to ask where the father was but he had a feeling that it was a sore subject. He didn't miss the sense of forlorn and wistfulness surrounding Mrs. Strife. Maybe he was dead or he had left her?

"So ... you said you're looking for someone." Mrs. Strife prompted.

"Un. I thought she lives here ... seems like I was wrong." He explained sheepishly. "After all the trouble I went to find her too." He added in a murmur.

"Hmm ... maybe she wasn't very good with directions and had pointed the wrong way?" Mrs. Strife suggested. He was slightly curious as to why Mrs. Strife had defended someone she had never met before but he didn't ask.

"What's her name – maybe I know her." He considered not telling – but there was no harm in that.

"Tsurugi ..." He answered carefully. Mrs. Strife either didn't notice his reluctance or ignore it. He was thinking the former.

She nodded thoughtfully. "Nope. Sorry, never heard of such person."

"Oh." Sephiroth felt his spirits dampen. "I see. I'm sorry for disturbing you." He stood up and inclined his head politely before turning to leave.

As his hand reached for the door knob, the baby let out a sharp cry. Mrs. Strife started rocking her infant as Sephiroth turned to look at them.

He felt envious of the boy who has a mother while he didn't. It just wasn't fair. Not at all.

"Wait, child." Mrs. Strife called him. He paused, waiting for the woman to ask him her question. "What's your name?"

"Sephiroth." He paused as he looked up at the sky. The grey clouds were clearing.

Cloud. It sounded familiar. And he had a nostalgic feeling – a dull ache in his heart appeared but he ignored it in favour of thinking. He frowned, _Clouds were clouds._ He tried to convince himself. _So why, did it felt as if it was someone's name?_

He turned towards the woman who was looking at him expectantly – waiting for him to say something. "Cloud. His name is Cloud." What compelled him to name the child was something beyond him. But it just felt right to call it the infant's name.

The woman smiled at him. "I thought so too."

He left without saying anything else. He was so deep in thought that he hadn't realize he had taken the wrong path back to the mansion.

His brows were furrowed, there was something nagging at him. A strong urge to destroy, anger. Something was provoking him – he started noticing this feeling when he first looked into the infant's eyes. No, Cloud's eyes. He wanted to rip the infant into pieces for some unknown reason. _What was wrong with him?_

He gritted his teeth in frustration. "Damn it." He whirled around when he heard a few growls.

Fiends. "Perfect timing." He growled. "I needed to vent anyway." His body reacted automatically. Moving in a fluid motion just as he was taught to attack his enemies. He may not have a sword to slice the monsters into pieces but, ripping them into shreds won't be so hard.

* * *

Sephiroth panted, trying to catch his breath. He was covered in blood from head to toe. Needless to say, he was disgusted – albeit slightly. What disturbed him the most was that he wasn't bothered much at all. Just uncomfortable by the state of his hygiene.

"Sephiroth ... ?" He turned to see the person he was looking for. His anger calmed when he saw Tsurugi. His urge to kill – his blood-lust – was quickly disappearing. He looked around, finally realizing how this scene must look to her.

Disgust was the first thought that he expected to enter her mind. But instead, she shrugged.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, as if it was normal to be seeing dead fiends – brutally ripped apart – and talking to said killer.

"L-looking for you." Sephiroth gazed at her uncertainly – as far as he know, this isn't suppose to be a normal reaction.

"Oh. I was just passing by and heard the commotion." She wrinkled her nose. "Never thought it was you." He wasn't sure whether it was good or bad.

"But–ah–look, you're lost right?" She held out her hand.

_How did she know that? _Sephiroth stared at her hand as if it was poison. "What ...?"

Her hand shot forward to grab his. He flinched, the times that someone wanted to grab his arm was to inject a needle into his arm. His wild imagination leaped to a conclusion that Tsurugi wanted to do the same. But a more rational part of his mind reminded him that she was someone he could trust – at least on some level. There are still too much that he didn't know about her so he can't completely trust her.

"Come on, I'll show you the way." Her grip was firm yet gentle. Sephiroth didn't know he was that cold until her hand grasp his. Warmth could be felt from his hand that was holding hers.

"I wanted to find you." He started, gauging her face for any reaction. "But I ended up meeting a woman–Mrs. Strife, she said that–"

"I just moved away." She cut in curtly.

"I see ..." He obviously didn't see. "... to where?"

"Over the bridge." She pointed in another direction.

He frowned. "Its quite far from town though."

"I can take care of myself." The trees gave away to the large mansion. She didn't make any move to leave the safety the shadows the trees cast onto her. "... while you clearly cannot." She nudged him towards the mansion.

"... You can fine me some other time. For now, try staying out of trouble." Tsurugi advised. Under the shadows, she looked unearthly.

"I met Cloud." Sephiroth didn't know why he felt the need to say that. What kind of connection does Tsurugi has with that infant that she probably had never met?

"... Oh–err ... that's–good?" She finished quickly. He detected something he couldn't decipher. She was hiding something.

"I was the one that named him ..." Sephiroth paused. "Do you think its a good name?"

Tsurugi smiled, softly. "Yeah, it suits him." It was a smiled that didn't seem out of place for her. She turned around. "Well–Good bye."

"... Bye ..." He whispered. Somehow, he knew that Tsurugi heard him even though she didn't gave any acknowledgement about it.

He turned and made his way back to the mansion – which hid the lab.

Someplace he didn't want to be, but until he found a better place to run to, it would make do for now.


End file.
